Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
1️⃣ Single stage 💃 A ballroom dance 💃 To dance
one-step

one-step

3 9.5
A fast ballroom dance from the early 1900s with quick walking steps
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : one-step
  • For each probe, students had 10 minutes to complete 6 one-step and 2 two-step addition and subtraction problems.

Examples

  • Annabelle had taken the fashion one step further.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The one-step was a lively dance that captivated couples at the ballroom.

  • Taking this one step at a time can make this overwhelming task simple and affordable.

    Blog text (18)

  • She learned the one-step at her dance class and enjoyed mastering its rhythm.

  • The one-step became popular at social gatherings for its simplicity and fun movements.

Surface Forms

one-step singular
one-steps plural

Morphology

one-step = one + step (semi-transparent) = one + step

The components 'one' + 'step' are clear, but the specialised meaning 'a named ballroom dance' is a conventionalized use not obvious to all learners.

Etymology

One-step comes from the dance's simple pattern and is made of the words one and step, where one means 'single' and the dance used a single step for each beat. That's why a one-step is a quick ballroom dance made of repeated single steps.